AS Darío Benedetto’s penalty sailed high over the crossbar and into the ranks of gleeful, yellow-clad Nantes fans massed in the Tribune Loire, Marseille’s supporters could have been forgiven for feeling a sense of déjà vu. This did not look like the star striker they had been promised. And it was not the first time.
Ever since American businessman Frank McCourt took over at Stade Vélodrome in October 2016, Marseille have been hunting for a grand attaquant (‘big striker’) – a fearsome 30-goal-a-season centre-forward capable of firing the club back to the pinnacle of French and European football in the manner of Jean-Pierre Papin or Didier Drogba.
On the final day of the summer transfer window in 2017, OM spent €15 million on Kostas Mitroglou, who would spend 15 months playing as if remotely controlled by a capricious toddler before being farmed out on loan. After a fruitless pursuit of Mario Balotelli in the summer of 2018, the Italian finally arrived at Marseille in January this year, but despite a healthy return of eight goals in 12 games, his huge wages and the club’s failure to qualify for European football meant his six-month contract was never going to be extended. This summer, it was back to the drawing board again.
When ‘Pipa’ Benedetto, a €14 million capture from Boca Juniors, skied his penalty on his full debut at Nantes’ Stade de la Beaujoire in mid-August, it looked like Marseille might have landed themselves another dud. There was little else in his performance to write home about and Nantes centre-back Nicolas Pallois delivered a withering verdict on the Marseille number nine’s display. “Benedetto? He did nothing this afternoon,” Pallois told reporters. “We’ll see what happens in the rest of the season.”
Thankfully for Marseille’s fans, Pallois is already having to revise his opinion. Benedetto opened his account in his next game, a 2-1 win at Marseille’s Mediterranean rivals Nice, scoring with a deflected volley from the edge of the box after his sublime pass to right-winger Bouna Sarr had taken opposition left-back Andy Pelmard out of the game. He crowned his first home start against Saint-Étienne with the only goal of the match, setting Sarr free to scamper down the right flank with a delightful flick on halfway before haring into the box to sweep Morgan Sanson’s square pass past Stéphane Ruffier.
Dario Benedetto with @OM_Officiel
5 | Games
4 | Goals pic.twitter.com/gkX41ZfxCB— HQ PHOTOS | (@ARG_HQ) September 15, 2019
Last weekend he was a central figure as Marseille battled back from 2-0 down to win 4-3 at Monaco, sparking the fightback by ghosting in behind Kamil Glik to slam home Sanson’s low cross from the right and then netting what proved to be the winner with a crisp left-foot finish from Jordan Amavi’s cross. The hard-working, versatile frontman has now scored four goals in three games and his overall contribution has left his team-mates purring.
“He makes me think of [Sergio] Agüero a bit because he doesn’t seem it, but he’s very strong in his legs and he’s got a great shot,” said midfielder Sanson. “He’s a complete striker, who can run behind or drop deep. We’re really enjoying playing with him.”
Benedetto was signed on the recommendation of new Marseille coach André Villas-Boas, who took over from Rudi Garcia last May. At 29, with no prior experience of European football and having suffered a serious knee ligament injury in 2017, Benedetto represents a gamble. For the time being, at least, it is a gamble that is paying off.
“Normally, when an Argentinian player moves to European football, he does it when he’s much younger so that he’ll always have re-sale value in case of a future sale,” Benedetto told L’Équipe in a recent interview. “It’s a huge success for me to be here, but it’s been really hard. When you look at my career, everything has been difficult. Everything.”
Hailing from the city of Berazategui in Greater Buenos Aires, Benedetto took to football at a young age and was invited to join Independiente when he was 12. His mother had been a talented footballer, but tragedy befell the family when, while watching him play in the final of a local youth tournament, she suffered a heart attack and died. Benedetto turned his back on the game, cutting his ties with Independiente, and also dropped out of school, choosing instead to work with his bricklayer father on local building sites. He spent his free time fishing, kicking a ball around with friends and performing in a cumbia band (a kind of South American folk music) that he formed with his brother, Lucas.
He did not return to football until the age of 16, when he joined Buenos Aires club Arsenal de Sarandí following a successful trial. After scoring his first senior goal in June 2009, in an Argentinian championship game against Lanús, he celebrated by removing his jersey to reveal a T-shirt that read: “For you, Mum.” Following loan spells with Defensa y Justicia and Gimnasia, he spent time in Mexico with Tijuana and Club América before securing a dream return to his homeland in June 2016 with boyhood club Boca.
Benedetto is a die-hard Boca fan and has a tattoo of the club crest on the left side of his abdomen. He won two Argentinian titles at La Bombonera, in 2017 and 2018, and scored in both legs of Boca’s loss to arch rivals River Plate in last year’s momentous Copa Libertadores final. His achievements with Boca led to international recognition, but two months after making his Argentina debut in November 2017 he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, cruelly ending his dream of going to last year’s World Cup.
Before his injury, Benedetto scored 29 goals in 34 league games for Boca. He found the net only twice in 15 matches following his return, but Marseille were nevertheless sufficiently convinced of his worth to offer him a four-year contract. He explained at his unveiling that the “passion” of Marseille’s fan base reminded him of Boca’s.
Having quickly got to grips with the increased pace and physicality of Ligue 1, Benedetto already looks a contender for the league’s top scorer prize. Marseille might have found their grand attaquant at long last.
